Dalton Pharma Services announced a drug development and manufacturing services agreement with ExCellThera, a biotechnology company focused on delivering molecules and bioengineering solutions to expand stem and immune cells for therapeutic use.
This agreement provides ExCellThera access to Dalton`s State-of-the-Art cGMP, Health Canada approved biopharmaceutical facility in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Under the agreement terms, Dalton will be responsible for the formulation and fill/finish of UM171, a constituent of ExCellThera`s lead technology, ECT-001, to support phase II clinical trials in Canada & the United States.
Stem cell transplantation is a medical procedure that could increasingly be used in the treatment of blood and bone marrow cancers and shows potential for autoimmune disorders and other non-malignant diseases. ECT-001 is a combination of a small molecule, UM171, and an optimized culture system. The technology, capable of expanding the number of stem and immune cells exponentially in as little as seven days, is used in novel curative cord blood transplant therapies for patients with blood cancers, allowing more rapid engraftment, greatly reduced incidence of transplant-related mortality, low risk of chronic graft-versus-host disease and low risk of relapse, resulting in better outcomes for patients.
“Dalton is pleased to apply its expertise in aseptic formulation and sterile fill/finish towards developing this leading-edge therapy. We look forward to working with ExCellThera in support of their efforts to develop ECT-001 as a treatment for blood cancers.” said Peter Pekos, CEO of Dalton Pharma Services.